Zapier is using AI to sell to AI

Presented by Zapierhttps://zapier.com/Episode Highlights / Timestamps00:00 Marketing to agents, not humans00:45 What “agent marketing” actually means01:30 How agents decide which products to pick02:15 What works: clean docs, fast pages, agent-friendly content03:54 How people are testing and tracking agent recommendations04:48 Is SaaS dead?04:57 Zapier’s CPTO vibe-codes a meeting recorder05:24 Why they still won’t cancel SaaS subscriptions06:27 When vibe coding is worth it (and when it isn’t)06:45 Software spend vs headcount spend07:57 The “War Council” Claude skill08:33 How it spins up subagents + personas09:54 How Wade built it fast using Cursor + Granola notes11:06 Skills as a commodity vs software as a business12:54 Using War Council for hiring decisions14:51 Using it to analyze sales performance + feedback16:21 Wade’s Cursor setup + switching between models17:42 Using Codex to critique Claude when it gets stuck18:09 How Wade structures personal context files21:18 Building an AI chief-of-staff system22:03 Using Zapier MCP to draft emails / run actions24:09 Getting 800 people at Zapier using Cursor / Claude Code / Codex25:39 Example: AI reviewing 4 massive spreadsheets fast31:03 The “NO” hat and staying focused32:06 Wrap 📄 War Council Skill (Claude Skill mentioned in the episode): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CU674IKmPCAZm2xuqMGklTA-Bq1xr1GNQW6hNydxXrE/edit?tab=t.0Are you marketing to humans… or to agents?In this episode of The Next New Thing, Andrew Warner sits down with Wade Foster to unpack a shift that’s already starting to change how companies grow:AI agents are beginning to choose products on behalf of humans.That means you may no longer be “selling to a person.” You’re trying to get ChatGPT, Claude, and other models to recommend you instead of a competitor — and the tactics are different. Wade explains what “agent marketing” actually means, what agents care about (and what they ignore), and why teams are already building tools to measure how models mention their brand.They also tackle a question every founder is asking:Is SaaS dead?Wade shares an example from inside Zapier: their CPTO vibe-coded a meeting recording tool internally. It worked as a proof of concept — but they’re not canceling their SaaS subscriptions. Wade breaks down why building is cheaper than ever, but maintenance, polish, and focus are still what make commercial software worth paying for.Then the conversation gets tactical: Wade shows how he’s using AI daily as a “second brain” inside Cursor — including a Claude skill he calls The War Council, which spins up sub-agents (ruthless CFO, wartime operator, hiring expert, design visionary, etc.) to debate decisions and return a synthesized recommendation.This is a real look at how AI-native leadership works inside an 800-person company — without hype.